I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a trailer assembly for receiving, transporting and discharging flowable bulk material. More particularly, this invention pertains to such an assembly having a bin with a conveyor as the bin floor.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Trailer assemblies comprising bins with conveyors located at the floor of the bin are well known. Examples of these are U.S. Pat. No. 2,496,463 to Gaddis; U.S. Pat. No, 3,876,089 to Moser and U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,265 to Eisenman. The Eisenman patent teaches a bulk bed material carrier for receiving, transporting, and discharging bulk quantities of material. Specifically, the Eisenman patent teaches a bulk bed material carrier for agricultural products.
While bulk bed material carriers with conveyor floors are well known, the use of such carriers in certain applications has resulted in certain difficulties. Specifically, it would be desirable to use such carriers in the construction industry to haul flowable bulk material such as aggregate. Also, it would be desirable to use such carriers to haul asphalt using the conveyor floor to discharge the asphalt at a metered rate during road paving operations. An example of such a trailer assembly for use in the construction trades is a trailer marketed under the trade name Flow Boy Model 24B by the J.H. Holland Company. The Flow Boy model has opposing chains connected by horizontal transverse rails which scrape across the top of a bin floor. Such an arrangement carries asphalt out of the bin. However, this arrangement can have disadvantages with aggregate which is abrasive and can damage the rails or the floor. Also, such an arrangement is not practical with wet concrete. An example of a bulk bed material carrier which may be used with concrete, as well as other bulk materials, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,583 to Gust. The Gust '583 carrier, however, has a plurality of belt sections which effectively cover or overlap links of chains attached to which the belt section are attached for movement. Thus, if abrasive material becomes caught in the chain, the belt sections prevent the material from escaping. Damage to the conveyor mechanism may result from the presence of foreign particles in the chain.